State-Sanctioned Dehumanization of a Religious Minority
On a Wednesday night in June, the Texas State Board of Education Turned World History Curriculum Into Political Propaganda
In Nazi Germany, textbooks were rewritten to advance antisemitic ideology, portraying Jews as a threat to the German nation while minimizing or erasing their contributions to German history.
In the Soviet Union, history was repeatedly revised to fit the Communist Party’s political needs, with former allies disappearing from textbooks after they fell from favor.
This century, the Taliban has rewritten Afghanistan’s curriculum to align with its ideology, removing subjects and perspectives it considers unacceptable.
Yesterday, Texas Republicans used their majority on the State Board of Education to advance a similarly politically motivated agenda
Brandon Hall introduced what he called his “priority amendment” for the course. The amendment requires students to explain early Islam by studying Muhammad’s military campaigns against Jewish and Christian tribes, the institutionalization of slavery, and the taking of female captives as harem slaves. An earlier version also included Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha.
As debate continued, Member Staci Childs successfully amended the standards to include Nelson Mandela in the study of decolonization and apartheid in South Africa. Four Republican members voted against adding Mandela.
Later, Childs pointed out that Ethiopia—a Christian kingdom with one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world and one that successfully resisted European colonization—was largely absent from the standards. The content advisor acknowledged that her observation was correct. Nevertheless, this topic remains silent in the TEKS.
The board voted 9–5 to remove language stating that the beliefs of Islam are found in the Quran, eliminating one of the few remaining neutral descriptions of Islam as a world religion in the standards.
Texas students will study Islam through military conquest, slavery, conflict, and jihad while learning far less about its beliefs, scholarship, scientific and mathematical achievements, artistic traditions, and the civilizations it helped shape over more than fourteen centuries.
Muslim students across Texas will walk into classrooms where their classmates are taught about their faith primarily through its darkest historical chapters while much of the broader historical, cultural, and religious context has been removed. History shows that the stories children are taught about a people influence how those people are perceived. No student should have to wonder whether the state curriculum has taught their classmates to see them first through the lens of suspicion rather than understanding.
Religious extremism is a form of violence.
To weaponize Christianity is a form of violence.
To teach children to fear an entire people is a form of violence.
History has shown us where those choices can lead.
World History passed on a 9–5 party-line vote.